You are currently viewing an ARCHIVED edition of the 2003 Moon Area H.S. Baseball team. To view the current and most updated page just click here :

The Moon Area Varsity Baseball Homepage: The Official Homepage of Moon Area H.S. Baseball

FINAL NOTES AND TIGER DE-BRIEFING ..........

The Moon Area H.S. Varsity Baseball Record Book Page has been updated to reflect the new and tied records achieved by the 2003 season. You can see these updated records at the following link :

The Moon Area Varsity Baseball Record Book Homepage: Moon Area H.S. Varsity Baseball Records 1963-2003

Moon Area 2003 Graduate and standout P/1B Nathan Nery is at Stetson University this fall on the scholarship offered by them. The Baltimore Orioles' 8th Round draft pick has not heard from them since late June. Nery will not be eligible for the amateur draft again until the conclusion of his junior year at Stetson. Meanwhile, Austin Sykes is at Miami University of Ohio. The 2003 Moon Area grad and standout OF was given a scholarship at the school. Good Luck to both these graduates and all the grads of 2003

The Moon Area High School Baseball Record Book's 100/300 Club is now available to view online. Just click this link to see who are the best hitters in Moon Baseball history

Moon Baseball's 100/300 Club: The 100 AB/.300 B.A. Club members

The Moon Area Pinch Hitters Club banquet was held on Thursday (6/26) night at the Elks Lodge. Austin Sykes took home the Batting Championship bat with a .500 average. Nathan Nery was honored for his breaking of the Single season strikeout record with 130. Dave Cimato won the Senior scholarship. Nery and Sykes became the 58th and 59th players inducted into the 100/300 Club. Steve Holliday was honored for two years serving as President of the MAPHC. Speaking of the MAPHC, Amy Sykes, was named to succeed Holliday as President.

Nathan Nery made his final decision to honor his plans to attend Stetson University this Fall. Good luck Nathan on what ever road you decide to choose. God Bless ! Also Nathan recieved word this week he was named the Pittsburgh Tribune Review's South/West Player of the Year. Read this article by clicking this link :

Pittsburgh Trib-Review Sports Article: Story written by Colin Dunlap on Nathan Nery's being named South and West Player of the Year

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette announced their All-Star and All-Section teams. Nathan Nery picked up another pretigious award as he won the PPG's Player of the Year. Austin Sykes, Nick Manno, and Nery were also named to the Section-8 All-Star team

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Article: PPG All-Stars/Nery named Player of the year

Moon Area Baseball 1974 alumni and catcher Mark Isenberg's son Kurt was drafted in the fourth round by the Toronto Blue Jays and has signed with them. Kurt was a pitcher at James Madison University the past few years. Kurt is also the grandson of Mr. Charles Isenberg, who was the a long time teacher and junior high band director at Moon Junior (Middle School) High School. His aunt is Brenda Bondi, who is married to another Moon Baseball alumni 1985's Phil Bondi. We wish him also congratulations and good luck.

Moon Area H.S. Baseball Senior LHP Nathan Nery was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the eighth round (#224) this afternoon. Nery becomes only the first player in Moon History to be drafted in the first ten rounds of Major League Amatuer Draft. Congratulations Nathan, the hard work continues to reward you. Nery, who was highly scouted this spring, sported a 10-0 record with a 1.22 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 63 innings pitched. He is the second Moon pitcher to be drafted in the past two years. LHP Brian Holliday was drafted by the Pirates last year in the 12th round and is currently assigned in Bradenton, FLA.

Here is what the local press is having to say. Just click the links and read the articles :

Allegheny/Beaver County Times Sports Article: Story written by Jim Equels Jr. on Nathan Nery's being drafted

Pittsburgh Trib-Review Sports Article: Story written by John Grupp on Nathan Nery's being drafted

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Article: Story written by Mike White on Nathan Nery's being drafted

The Moon Township American Legion team website is online. The team was managed by first year Manager Mark Daddi. You can read more about the team, it's roster and schedule at the following link.

Moon Twp. Legion Baseball Home Page: Official Home of Moon Twp. Legion Baseball

The Tiger's dream of defending it's PIAA Class AAA back to back gold medals came to a screeching halt on Wednesday at Butler's Pullman Park. The No. 1 ranked Shaler Titans beat Moon 4-0 with great defense and some timely pitching. Unlike their previous exhibition game in which Shaler destroyed the Tigers, 11-1. This game was close in intensity. Titan's No.1 pitcher, Chris Squeglia and Tiger No. 2 starter Dave Cimato held each at bay over the first five innings of thier WPIAL Class AAA Quarterfinal game. Cimato was touched for only a run in the first inning after a controversial 3-2 count walk with two outs. The walk allowed the Titan's Squeglia to hit and his double gave the Titan's thier first run. Meanwhile the Tiger offense might have outhit the Titans, it's defense proved to be the key to it's success. It robbed Nathan Nery twice, it robbed Austin Sykes. That along with Squeglia's eight strikeouts ended the Moon dynasty. For the Titans (21-1), it's on to the WPIAL Class AAA Semifinals and a berth in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs. For the Tigers, it is a tough end to a great season. A season in which saw another great Tiger pitcher come to fruition, Nathan Nery, a offensive power flex his power, Austin Sykes and a team that was primarily young in heart and age prove they could compete with thier former predecessors and the best that the WPIAL had to offer in 2003. God Bless you Moon Tigers. Continued success to you all in your future endeavours. To Nathan Nery (Stetson), Austin Sykes (Miami of Ohio), David and Dan good luck in your college (and/or pro) careers. To Adrian Sykes, Matthew Dowdell, Dom Manno, Nick Petersen, Bobby Francis, Jason Swalga, Sean Holliday, Mike Yakima, Mike Serretti , Josh Remerowski, Billy Kronz, Ben Gresco, Ben Levine, Nick Davis good luck in summer ball and hope to see you all back for another year of Tiger Baseball in 2004.

Thanks again to my great friends and fellow colleagues, Head Coach Tommy Hoffman and his wife Jill and Brett, Chelsea, and Austin. To Grandpa and Assistant Varsity Coach Dom Santeufemio and his wife, Grandma Donna for keeping me up to snuff with daily phone calls and game updates. To Statistician/Scorekeeper Joe Farquhar, my heir apparent/replacement, for all the game stats. Also thanks to President Steve Holliday and the Moon Area Pinch Hitters Club for taking care of our kids and coaches during the season and throughout the year. To Varsity Assistant Mark Daddi, good luck this summer with the Moon Twp. American Legion team. To Junior Varsity Head Coach Doug Busch and and Ninth Grade Head Coach Ken Sofranko, thanks for looking after and teaching our next bright baseball stars of the Moon Area H.S. Baseball program. To Mike Shutak (equipment/scoreboard) and Fred Ciccone for thier added imput and support during the season. To Moon Area Athletic Director Mr. William Moore, thanks for your support of the team, Tiger Pride, and your support of this site and myself throughout the years. To Athletic Trainer extroadinaire Jerry McFarland for mending and tending of our players cuts, scrapes, bruises, pulls, twists, breaks, sprains, and wounds. To my mentor, my friend and "Godfather", former Moon Area H.S. Baseball Head Coach Ray Bosetti. To my parents, Olive and Joe Marek, my wife Kelley and all my family (Brothers, Steve and his wife Peggy and George and his wife Sandy, Sisters, Dottie and Vera, nephews Shane Marek, Kenny Royer and Jonathan Marek, nieces Emily Marek, Samantha Marek, Megan Royer and Kristin Royer, brother/sister in law Kevin and Irene Royer. Father in law, Byron "Poppy" Royer and Gram Peggy Fry. Also to my funny looking son/dog Mortie Mouse. Hi Lilly !!!

Shaler Area 4, Moon Area 0 - WPIAL Class AAA Quarterfinal Playoff game - Wednesday May 21, 2003

SHALER AREA - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 3 - 0 = 4 - 5 - 0

MOON AREA - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 = 0 - 7 - 1

Winner - Chris Squeglia (7 innings) 8 strikeouts, 3 walks. Loser - Dave Cimato (5 innings) 1 strikeout, 1 walk. 2B - George Nieman (SA), Squeglia (SA). Two or more hits - Nieman (SA), Dom Manno (MA), Nick Petersen (MA).

Articles from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review, and the Allegheny/Beaver County Times. Links provided here

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Article: Story written by Mike White on Shaler vs. Moon Area Quarterfinal Round playoff game

Pittsburgh Tribune Review Sports Article: Story written by Colin Dunlap on Shaler vs. Moon Area Quarterfinal Round Playoff Game

Allegheny/Beaver County Times Sports Article: Story written by on Shaler vs. Moon Area - Quarterfinal Round Playoff Game

This game will be rebroadcast also on the internet at NSNSports.com. Just click on this handy link to get the game.

NSNSports.com Internet broadcast: Shaler vs. Moon Area - 2003 WPIAL Class AAA Quarterfinal Round Playoff Game

Here are the WPIAL Class AAA 16 Teams that have clinched:

Section 1: Latrobe (8-2) is the section champion...Norwin (6-4) is second.

Section 2: Connellsville (6-2) is the section champion...Laurel Highlands (5-3) is second.

Section 3: Shaler (10-0) is the section champion...Kiski Area (6-4) is second.

Section 4: Plum (8-2) is the section champion...Franklin Regional (6-4) is second.

Section 5: North Allegheny (8-0) is the section champion...North Hills (5-3) is second.

Section 6: Bethel Park (8-2) and Peters Township (8-2) are co-section champions.

Section 7: Mount Lebanon (7-0) is the section champion...Pgh.Central Catholic (5-3) is second.

Section 8: West Allegheny (6-2) is the section champion...Moon (5-3) is second.

ARCHIVE NEWS - The New 2003 Game by Game Synopsis !!!!

Hey everybody, I have moved the previous games summaries and line scores to another page on this website. The new page is called the MAHS Baseball Game by game synopsis. Instead of like in the past where I just eliminated the game summary and line scores I will now save them for your future reference. Just click the handy link I have left here and you can review all the game summaries from the entire 2003 Varsity baseball season as it was formerly posted on here. This allows me to keep the more recent stuff on the page and less eye clutter. Thanks for reading this website.

The Moon Area Varsity Baseball 2003 Game by game Synopsis: Revisit all the previous game summaries, past stories, and line scores

WPIAL Class AAA PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD for Tuesday May 20, 2003

WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round Games :

Shaler Area ........... 7 - Laurel Highlands .... 2

MOON AREA ............. 9 - Plum ................ 5

Bethel Park ........... 6 - Connellsville ....... 1

Latrobe ............... 6 - Franklin Regional ... 3

Mt. Lebanon ........... 3 - Kiski Area .......... 2

Peters Twp. .......... 10 - North Hills ......... 0

Central Catholic ..... 4 - West Allegheny ...... 2

North Allegheny ...... 12 - Norwin .............. 3

WPIAL Class AAA Quarterfinal Playoffs - Wednesday May 21st, 2003

Shaler Area .......... 4 - MOON AREA ......... 0

Bethel Park .......... 7 - Latrobe ........... 3

Peters Township ...... 12 - Mt. Lebanon ....... 1

North Allegheny ...... 12 - Central Catholic .. 1

WPIAL Class AAA Semifinal Playoffs - Friday May 23rd, 2003

Shaler Area .......... 7 - Bethel Park ....... 5

North Allegheny ...... 6 - Peters Township ... 2

WPIAL Class AAA Championship - Thursday May 29th, 2003

At PNC Park, 7:00 PM (ETA)

North Allegheny ...... 9 - Shaler Area ....... 1

Here are a couple of interesting articles about past and presnt Tiger Baseball players. In the Beaver County Times, John Perrotto writes a great article about Moon Baseball Alumni, Bob Mariano. Mariano, a 1976 graduate, has played, coached, and managed in all levels of pro baseball. Bobby is currently helping the Los Angeles Dodgers. Until last year, (Before Kevin Lovely) Mariano owned a lot of Moon Baseball records. In the second link, the PPG's H.S. Sports editor Mike White talks about our own Nathan Nery. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did. Go Tigers !!!!

Beaver County Times sports article: Featuring Moon Area H.S. Baseball standout, Bob Mariano

Pittsburgh Post Gazette sports article: High School Baseball Notebook Article featuring Nathan Nery

Nathan Nery finished with the Moon Area Baseball Record Book's all-time single season strikeout record of 130. Also, Nathan also broke both the single-season and career Win-Loss Percentage makes currently held by my classmate, John Hudock in 1975. Hudock was 8-0 (1.000) in his senior season and ended up 9-1 (.900) in his career. Nathan surpassed the single season mark at 10-0 on Monday afternoon. Nathan, who was 5-1 career, coming into this his senior year is now 15-1 (.938). Congratulations Nathan

MOON AREA HIGH SCHOOL RECORD BOOK (Most Strikeouts in a Single Season)(#)

1. NATHAN NERY* (Senior, 2003) - 130 (NEW RECORD)

2. Thomas Haskins (Junior, 1967) - 114

3. Michael Stopperich (Senior, 1981) - 113

4. Brian Holliday (Senior, 2002) - 103

5. Timothy Babish (Senior, 1970) - 98

6. Michael Hughes (Senior, 1980) - 91

(#) -This MAHS Baseball Record Book excerpt courtesy NHM Publications

The The PittsburghChannel.com sports article: For Moon Baseball, the sky's the limit

2003 JUNIOR VARSITY and NINTH GRADE BASEBALL SCHEDULES .......

Here are the links to the most current and up-to-date schedules for the Moon Area Junior Varsity and freshman baseball teams. These schedules are updated by Moon AD William Moore. Just click for the schedule.

2003 Moon Junior Varsity Baseball: 2003 Moon JV Baseball Schedule

2003 Moon Freshmen Baseball: 2003 Moon Freshman Baseball Schedule

PAST SEASONS IN REVIEW ........

To review the 2002 Moon Area High School Varsity Baseball Season just click the following link. I decided to start housecleaning a little sooner this time. You can also review the 2000 and 2001 seasons as well.

To view last year's 2002 Moon Area Schedule and results which includes articles and highlights through Moon's 2nd miraculous run to the PIAA Class AAA Championship game and GOLD medal just click here : The 2002 Moon Area H.S. Baseball Schedule and Results:Check out last year's 2nd run to the PIAA Class AAA Championship and Gold medal

Click here to listen to the achived rebroadcast of the 2002 PIAA Class AAA Championship game on Tuesday June 18th which was broaadcast live on NSNSports.com and WBVP/WMBA AM Radio

NSN Sports.com internet archived broadcast:Moon Area vs. Bethlehem Liberty - 2002 PIAA Class AAA Championship game

To view last year's 2001 Moon Area Schedule and results which includes articles and highlights through Moon's first ever run to the PIAA Class AAA Championship game and GOLD medal just click here : The 2001 Moon Area H.S. Baseball Schedule and Results:Check out Moon's run to it's first PIAA Class AAA championship

To view last year's 2000 Moon Area Schedule and results just click here : The 2000 Moon Area H.S. Baseball Schedule and Results:Check out last year's WPIAL Quarterfinal run

Also NEW !!! I added a few new links to the LINKS below, I reviewed them and felt they were worthy of review.

MOON AREA H.S. BASEBALL RECORD BOOK ONLINE (1963- PRESENT)..........

The Moon Area High School Baseball Record Book Online (1963-2002) is just an excerpt of a NHM Publication that was last released in 1992. Here you can see who holds the most important statistical records in Moon Area H.S. Baseball History. SINGLE SEASON and CAREER LEADERS in every statistical baseball department from pitching to hitting are available by just clicking the LINK right here. COMING SOON !!! A MAHS COACHING STAFF HISTORY PAGE, MOON AREA H.S. Baseball Year by Year Win-Loss Records, and hopefully this year .... A NEW !!! MOON AREA H.S. BASEBALL RECORD BOOK (1963-2003).

The Moon Area Varsity Baseball Record Book Homepage: Moon Area H.S. Varsity Baseball Records 1963-2002

The COMPLETE LIST OF WPIAL AND PIAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONS AND LISTING OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Just click this link (and follow the prompts) and you can see who has won every WPIAL (1944 - PRESENT) and PIAA ( 1979 - PRESENT) Baseball championship . This link is courtesy of the WPIAL Homepage .....

WPIAL Homepage: Complete list of WPIAL and PIAA Baseball Champions 1944/1979 to 2002

2003 WPIAL SECTION 8-AAA FINAL Standings 5/8/2003

TEAM	WIN	LOSS	PCT	GB
West Allegheny*	6	2	.750	---
MOON AREA**	5	3	.625	1.0
Hopewell	4	4	.500	2.0
Ambridge	3	5	.375	3.0
Montour	2	6	.333	4.0

( * ) - Section Champion , ( ** ) - Section Runner-Up